Neil Eckberg
Guide & tournament fisherman
I grew up in and reside in Cary, North Carolina.  I have loved to fish for as long
as I can remember. I used to ride my bicycle to a nearby pond every day after
school to fish for what ever I could catch.  In the summer of 1995 I had saved up
enough money to get my first boat.  It was a 12ft. jon boat.  At first I just had a
trolling motor, eventually upgraded to an outboard.  In the late 90s I got my first
taste of fishing bigger lakes, a whole different ball game than the ponds I started
in.  It was tough and I had limited success in the beginning but never gave up
and eventually got better.  I graduated from Cary High School in 2001 and went
on to college at Wake Tech majoring in Automotive Systems.  College and
working part time at Lowes really cut down on my fishing time and I missed alot
of time on the water. After finishing college in the summer of 2002, I continued to
work at Lowes.  While walking around at the 2003 fishing expo I discovered that I
could afford a bass boat if I played my cards right.  In July of 2003 I got my
Stratos 18 XL and I got back into fishing like never before.  I soon found myself
on the water fishing regardless of weather every day that I didnt have to work.  
As I began to have more success on the water I began to post fishing reports on
the Bass Fishing Home Page after every trip.  Through BFHP I met a friend
named Jerry, he introduced me to a bunch of other fishermen via the internet
from across the state and eventually from across the country.  In October of
2004 I was invited to join Triangle Bass Anglers.  Here I met more people and
learned alot, also got hooked on tournament fishing.  I have since experienced
success in tournaments both at the club level and regional level and started a
guide service to share my knowledge with others.  My ultimate goal is to
compete in tournaments at a professional level and guide on local lakes.
Biography
Biggest Bass: 9 Lbs 4 Oz (Jordan).
Bass Clubs:
-  2004-present- Triangle Bass Anglers(2007-2008 tournament director,
2010 Vice President, 2011 Tournament director)
- 2005-2008- Carolina Crankers Bass Club.
- 2009-present- Central Carolina Bassmasters (2010 Tournament
director)
Trails Fished: WalMart BFL Piedmont and North Carolina division,
Stren Series.
Charity Events: Warriors on the Water, Ryan Newman Foundation
tournament, Harris Lake Kids fishing fun day.
Fishing Organizations: FLW Outdoors, North Carolina Bass
Federation (TBF)
Tournament Wins: 13
Top 3 Finishes: 38
Big Fish Pot: 14
Other highlights:
-  2nd place Bass Boat Central Virginia Rally (October 2011)
-  3rd place NC Bass Federation, Northern Regional- Kerr Lake (April
2011)
-  BFL 2010 Potomac Regional qualifier.
- 14th place BFL Piedmont Super Tournament- Kerr Lake- August 2010
- 12th place BFL Piedmont- Kerr Lake- April 2010
- 16th place BFL Piedmont- Kerr Lake- June 2010
- Central Carolina Bassmasters 2010 Angler of the Year
- Central Carolina Bassmasters 2010 Big Bass of the Year
- Central Carolina Bassmasters 2010 Classic Champion
- Triangle Bass Anglers- 2010 Classic Champion
- Central Carolina Bassmasters 2009 Classic Champion
- Triangle Bass Anglers- 2009 Angler of the year
- Triangle Bass Anglers- 2008 Angler of the Year
- Triangle Bass Anglers- 2008 Big bass of the year
- 7th place, 1st annual Warriors on the Water tournament, Harris Lake.
- 4th place and big fish award, Bass Boat Central NC Rally on Lake
Norman.
- 8th place Walmart BFL Piedmont division (co-angler), Kerr Lake

Media Exposure: News & Observer (front page photo in outdoor
section on 2 occasions), fishbyte.net, Front page photo on
NCAngler.com numerous times,  Bass Fishing Homepage (weekly
fishing reports), Over 18000 posts, BassBoatCentral.com.  Moderator on
BassBoatTalk.com ,
Accomplishments